Mavi Kalem Sosyal Yardımlaşma ve Dayanışma Derneği Hayata Rengini Kat!
Following the February 6 earthquakes, we stand proudly alongside the resilient women who are reviving both life and the economy in Hatay. Walking alongside these women as they build and grow their businesses from scratch fills us with the exact same excitement we felt on day one.
We provide women producers with the equipment and materials they need, while strengthening our bonds through business development meetings. Through the “women producers’ solidarity network” we established, these women are not only reaching wider audiences with their hard work, but are also standing shoulder-to-shoulder to offer each other psychological support.
It is a great privilege to accompany these women as they weave hope into the fabric of Hatay. We have brought their powerful stories together at kadinisi.org, and we invite you to discover them and become a part of this solidarity.
Amplifying these inspiring stories and helping more women participate in economic life is only possible with your support. You can help raise the voices of Hatay’s women by following and sharing our social media accounts. Additionally, you can directly invest in their labor and their future by donating through the link below.
Come, let’s amplify these powerful stories together!
We hope you enjoy this issue!
Nancy Kafaoğlu
From an Unfinished Journey to a New Beginning: Nancy Kafaoğlu
Sometimes a small step changes the course of an entire life. When hairdresser Nancy Kafaoğlu crossed from Latakia to Türkiye in 2014 just to buy a new device for her business, she never guessed that this journey would turn into a permanent relocation. Unable to return due to the closing of borders and the deepening war in her country, Nancy decided to hold onto life in an unfamiliar land, using the professional expertise she had in her hands.
Professionalism Growing in a Single Room
Nancy’s biggest turning point was the decision to convert a room in her home into a hair salon. The essential hairdressing supplies provided to her through MaviKalem transformed this room from being “makeshift” into a professional workspace.
Read more: https://kadinisi.org/en/women-stories/from-an-unfinished-journey-to-a-new-beginning-nancy-kafaoglu/
Sevda Göbelek
Starting Over Through Movement: Sevda Göbelek and a Safe Space Exclusively for Women
For Sevda Göbelek, a university-graduate mother, her professional life took on a whole new meaning through a drawing her daughter made one day. Driven by the desire to discover her own potential and to produce, Sevda completed her Pilates instructor training and earned her professional certifications. While things were going great for Sevda—who quickly built a loyal client base—the earthquake disaster brought everything to a standstill.
Building a “Safe Haven” for Mothers
This process that Sevda started in a home environment gradually began to meet a very special need: mothers with children. As an instructor, Sevda professionally analyzed her clients’ needs. By adding refreshments, a children’s play area, and an activity corner to her room, she transformed this space into a peaceful social hub.
The Pilates reformer support provided by MaviKalem played a critical role in increasing her capacity. Now able to serve more women, Sevda uses the income she generates both to invest in her business and to meet the needs of her children.
Aslı Özge
Chemist’s Meticulousness
Aslı Özge is a 36-year-old professional chemist who dedicated years to the private sector. When her workplace was destroyed during the earthquake disaster, she decided to use her greatest capital—her knowledge and expertise—to start her own business. But she not only forged her own path; even before opening her own shop, she helped other women affected by the earthquake to earn their own money through workshops she organized voluntarily.
Equipping Hope: MaviKalem’s “Lifeblood” Support
Like every newly established business, the right equipment meant sustainability for Aslı Özge’s enterprise. The wax melting cauldron and color printer provided by our association propelled the business’s operational strength to its peak. The wax melting cauldron professionalized production while allowing the budget that would have been spent on this equipment to be redirected toward other needs of the shop. The color printer brought all printing requirements—from product labels to workshop materials—in-house, eliminating external dependency and reducing costs.
“Seeing the women who attend my workshops earn their own money is a much greater source of pride than filling the shelves of my shop. Every woman supported means this city rising back on its feet.”
Semra Oktay
Semra Oktay: A Journey of Healing from Graphic Design to Her Own Design Studio
For Semra Oktay, creating is the strongest bond she has formed with the flow of life. When her university education in graphic design merged with her professional discipline and passion for work, Semra always found herself at the heart of production. Her experiences in agencies and social media management prior to the earthquake shaped her professional perspective.
MaviKalem: Tools That End the Loss of Time and Energy
Being dependent on external vendors for personalized prints made meeting order deadlines nearly impossible under the challenging transportation conditions of the earthquake zone. Visiting print centers every day was draining both Semra’s time and her creative energy. The printing machine provided by MaviKalem became the breakthrough that resolved this bottleneck for her. Now, she can complete the entire production process within her own studio, under a single roof. This independence has significantly shortened delivery times while pushing her control and efficiency to their peak.
Derya Fansa
Derya Fansa: A Story of Flavors and Perseverance Born from the Ashes
Derya Fansa is a master artisan who transforms her kitchen into an art studio, infusing every recipe with her love. Having honed her skills through specialized training and taken her first steps into professional production even before the earthquake, for Derya, pastry making is not just a job; it is a way of expressing herself and touching lives. She doesn’t just knead sugar and dough; she kneads hope.
A Step Forward with MaviKalem
As her business volume expanded, the storage and display of her products became a critical need for Derya. The display refrigerator support provided by MaviKalem granted her business a professional identity at this pivotal point. Now, she can preserve her cakes and kömbe (traditional cookies) under the healthiest conditions, renewing customer trust through enhanced visual quality. This technical support has elevated her business to the next level, reflecting directly in sales figures and customer satisfaction.
Sibel Aslanyürek
Sibel Aslanyürek: A Culinary Hub of Ambition and Women’s Solidarity
Sibel Aslanyürek is an entrepreneur who stepped into the appetizer (meze) industry before the earthquake with a firm determination to stand on her own feet, establishing her business on official and professional grounds from the very beginning. Today, running her business shoulder-to-shoulder with her son, Sibel views appetizer production not just as a profession, but as a field of creation kneaded with ambition and love.
MaviKalem: Uninterrupted Energy, Uninterrupted Production
The chronic power outages in the area where her workplace is located posed a major risk, especially for the production and preservation of appetizers, which are highly sensitive products. The generator support provided by MaviKalem eliminated the biggest technical obstacle in Sibel’s business. Now, in defiance of the streets left in darkness, the stoves in her kitchen continue to burn and production carries on. By preventing disruptions in the workflow during peak order periods, this support has guaranteed the sustainability of the enterprise.
Read more: https://kadinisi.org/en/women-stories/sibel-aslanyurek-a-culinary-hub-of-ambition-and-womens-solidarity/v
Gülbeden Bal
Gülbeden Bal: A Quarter-Century of Hope Seeping Through the Needle’s Eye
Gülbeden Bal is 60 years old and a hardworking woman who has spent a large part of her life at the sewing machine, supporting her family. After losing her husband, she raised her two children alone and also took care of her mother. For Gülbeden, tailoring became more than just a profession; it was the sharpest tool in her struggle to survive. Although she never had a shop of her own, she became her family’s strongest pillar by creating miracles with old machines in a corner of her home.
MaviKalem: A Helping Hand beyond Imagination
Gülbeden’s application, made with the hesitation of someone who had never received support from any institution before, became a turning point in her life. The astonishment she felt when the MaviKalem team knocked on her door gave way to tears of joy as she received her new sewing machine. This support enabled Gülbeden to receive not only a machine, but also the feeling of being “noticed” and “supported” that she had waited for her entire life. With professional equipment, the doors were now wide open for her to produce much faster and flawlessly.
Zehra Dağ
Carrying the Legacy into the Future: Zehra Dağ’s Story of Starting Over
At just 24 years old, Zehra Dağ vividly remembers the bustling market days of Hatay and the cosmetics shop she ran shoulder-to-shoulder with her father. Before the earthquake, the life they built together was not just her job, but her school of life. Although the disaster took both her greatest pillar of support—her father and their shop and Zehra chose to honor his legacy by keeping it alive rather than giving up.
Going Digital: Zehra’s Professional Transformation with MaviKalem
Technology has been one of Zehra’s greatest supporters on this journey of recovery. The computer support provided through MaviKalem plays a key role in modernizing her business processes. Now, inventory tracking, accounting, and customer records are no longer done with pen and paper, but are managed flawlessly and in an organized manner on the computer.
This technological step saves Zehra’s shop from being limited to a physical space and lays the groundwork for her to open up to the world of e-commerce. As a young entrepreneur, the idea of moving her business into the digital world is one of the biggest factors fueling her excitement and drive to work.
Samiye Mutlu: A Kitchen Table Rebuilt with a Quarter-Century of Labor
Samiye Mutlu is 63 years old, and she has dedicated her life to the abundance of hard work. For her, producing has never been a mere necessity; working is a way of connecting with life and an endless passion. Having stepped into the tempo of a professional kitchen shortly before the earthquake, Samiye has maintained her mastery of baked goods as a way of life throughout every period of her journey.
MaviKalem: From Physical Burden to Technical Freedom
Despite the fatigue of the years, kneading dough entirely by hand and trying to create miracles with a small, faulty oven limited Samiye’s production capacity. The dough kneading machine and professional oven provided by MaviKalem opened a new chapter in her workflow. Now, physically less exhausted and able to produce much faster, Samiye has gained great self-confidence in fulfilling her orders on time. This technical transformation has allowed her to bring her mastery to a wider audience.
Meryem Cemali
Meryem Cemali: A Vision of the Future Emerging Clearly from the Rubble
Meryem Cemali is an entrepreneur who carves her own path with patience and precision within the delicate balance of the optical world. The business she built step-by-step in her shop near the hospital before the earthquake was not just a job to her, it was a field of expertise. For Meryem, opticianry was a craft where technical knowledge meets a human focus, and where every detail holds vital importance.
MaviKalem: Speed and Order Through Digital Transformation
During the rebuilding process, managing technical and administrative tasks manually was seriously slowing down Meryem’s daily workflow. At this exact point, the computer support provided by MaviKalem became the “brain” of the business. With the digitalization of record-keeping, stock tracking, and administrative procedures, Meryem began to use her time much more efficiently. This technological touch ensured that operations proceeded more professionally and without error, contributing greatly to the business’s sustainability.
Kadın İşi
- Web: https://kadinisi.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kadinisiorg
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KadınlarİşiniKuruyor
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kadinisiorg?locale=tr_TR
MaviKalem
- Web: https://www.mavikalem.org
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MaviKalemIstanbul
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mavikalemdernegi
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaviKalemDernegi
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mavi-kalem-03939724/
- X: https://x.com/MaviKalem
Donate
https://www.mavikalem.org/bagis-destek/
